


Love Holiday

by strawberrydaifuku



Category: Shall We Date?: Wizardess Heart+
Genre: F/M, Red String of Fate, Romantic Comedy, Soulmates, Summoning, Summoning Circles, Valentine's Day Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-14
Updated: 2019-02-14
Packaged: 2019-10-24 13:22:27
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,220
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17705045
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/strawberrydaifuku/pseuds/strawberrydaifuku
Summary: Liz Hart, an excellent wizardess, casts a spell and ends up finding her soulmate.Zeus Brundle, the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, summons his.





	Love Holiday

**Author's Note:**

> Happy Love Holiday! (ꈍᴗꈍ)

After class ended, the warmth of the sunset had rained down the academy. In the Prefect’s office, Alfonse, Caesar, and I were finishing up some paperwork when an unfamiliar bird flew through the window. It carried a package wrapped in a beautiful cloth in its claws. The three of us watched in wonder as the bird set the package on Caesar's desk. Afterwards, it perched itself on a tall stack of books nearby.

"Hey, Caesar. You got something from Hinomoto?” Alfonse asked as he walked towards the bird.

"I think this is from my friends," Caesar responded while untying the knot of the package.

"That's right! Didn't you study in Hinomoto for three years?" I asked Caesar.

He laughed in response. "You remembered."

"Of course." I laughed as well. He mentioned that little tidbit when we first met.

Out of curiosity, I went a few steps behind Alfonse. Despite my experience with animals, I have never seen such a colorful bird as this one. The creature had a red wattle and an indigo hood. Its dark green plumage shone like emeralds under the beams of the sun. The gray tail of the bird wagged in slight motions as we gazed at it.

"Wow! Do you know what it's called?" I asked Alfonse.

"This is a green pheasant," he said as he leaned down and observed the creature from various angles, like one would to a specimen. "It's a popular familiar from Hinomoto."

Without warning, the bird gave out a loud squawk which made Alfonse lean away.

"The bird is asking for some treats, Alfonse," I gave the best translation I could for him. That bird sure had an attitude…

"Oh, right." Alfonse took some sort of herb from his pocket and gave it to the bird. After it had taken the treat in its beak, the bird flew out the window.

"Aww... It's gone," Alfonse said, disappointed.

"It's probably just going to go around the academy. I'll have to send my reply, so it's going to come back," Caesar assured Alfonse. "Hey, check these out!" He gestured at the contents of the unwrapped package.

We turned to Caesar's desk and sure enough, it was filled with gifts of all sorts. Big and small. Heart shaped and pyramid-shaped. There was even a jar of paper cranes!

"You've got a postcard here." I pointed out.

"Could you read it for me, please?" he asked, still busy as he unwrapped the smaller gifts.

"Sure." I picked up the postcard. In the photo was the younger Caesar with his friends under a giant cherry tree. _"To our dearest Piggy,"_ I began.

"Ugh..." Caesar's reaction on the nickname was the same as ever.

_"How have you been? You've got some chocolates from your admirers for this year's Love Holiday. Wow, you're still popular here as you can see. We hope they'll get to you in time."_

It was a day before Love Holiday, a special day that only came once a year. It was a day when couples all around the world reaffirmed their feelings for each other. In Hinomoto, the women expressed their affection by giving chocolate. At least, that was what I heard once from Azusa.

As soon as I read about the chocolates, Caesar rummaged through the sea of gifts and found the cute boxes tied with red ribbons. He opened one of them and offered some chocolate to us.

"Hold on, there's more," I told him. _"There are also some gifts from us, so you can find your Princess Piggy. We miss you, Caesar! Come visit us in Hinomoto soon!"_ The postcard was signed by the class which Caesar belonged to in Hinomoto. I thought of how close he must be with them as I set the postcard down the table.

Curious, Alfonse asked, "What do they mean by that?"

"It's probably this one." Caesar held up a book with a red cover, flipped it open to a certain page, and passed it to Alfonse.

“The Red String of Fate,” the blond read the title out loud. “Oh, this is quite interesting, isn't it?”

The passage from the book said that in Hinomoto, two people whose fates were intertwined would meet each other no matter the time, place, or circumstance. The invisible cord which connected people was called the Red String of Fate. The magic spell would make the invisible string visible.

"Why don't you try it, Alfonse?" Caesar said and took out a pig-shaped chocolate from one of the boxes.

"What?" Alfonse looked up from the book in confusion.

"You're just scared you'll find a venus flytrap on the other end." Caesar laughed and proceeded to eat the chocolate.

"Why don't you be the one to try it, Caesar?"

"Me? Nope!"

Alfonse turned to me and asked, "Do you think he's just scared he'll find a pig on the other end of it?"

"No way!” I shook my head. “He'll probably find someone's familiar," I laughed and played along Alfonse's joke.

"Now that you mention it..." Alfonse pretended to consider and narrowed his eyes, "I bet it's going to be Seth. Remember when Piggy Caesar thought Seth was going to eat him?"

"How could I forget that?" I giggled. "But I'm gonna put my bet on Taffy. I wonder how Randy would react, though."

Alfonse gasped. "But what if…" he said in a whisper, "Elias…”

I feigned surprise. "Oh my. Didn't he turn into a boar the other day?"

"Again," Alfonse nodded. “My little brother…”

"Guys, I'm still here…" Caesar said, his eyes closed in frustration.

As Alfonse and I laughed at his reaction, Caesar turned to me and suggested, "Why don't you try it, Liz?"

"What? Why me?"

Alfonse nodded in enthusiasm. "Yeah! You've never tried Onmyo-jutsu, right? It'll be fun!"

 _It'll be fun_ , he said.

"W-Well, since I've never tried, I'm not sure how I should do it."

Caesar handed me the book which was still flipped open to the page of the soulmate spell. "You just have to write these characters in the air." He pointed at the section of the page with a larger text. There were numbered arrows as guide on how each stroke began and ended.

"Huh? But what if I make a mistake?" I told them, worried.

"You won't!” Caesar waved his hand in dismissal of the pessimistic thought. “You're a skilled wizardess after all."

"What do you say, Liz? Want to try it out?" Alfonse asked.

I gave it some thought. "Okay, I'll try it!" After all, what could possibly go wrong?

"I'm excited!" Alfonse said.

“Me too. This will be interesting,” Caesar chimed in. “Anyone in particular you want to see on the other end of the string?”

The hues of someone's vibrant gray hair flashed through my mind.

I hid a blush and quickly dispelled the thought. “Well, I don't want it to affect the results.”

“Oh, so there is someone!” Caesar teased.

“She's right, though,” Alfonse agreed, “It would be best to clear your mind when casting this spell.”

Caesar nodded. “Well, go on, then.”

I held the book in one of my hands and began to trace the characters in the air with the other.

**“運命の赤い糸”**

(うんめいのあかいいと)

(unmei no akai ito)

The moment I finished the final character, a magic circle with a red glow appeared on the ground where I stood. It was written in more Hinomoto alphabet I did not understand. In a few seconds, the light shone brighter than ever and I closed my eyes in reflex.

“Did it work?” I feared that I failed the spell, just like the old days. But it would be understandable since this was my first attempt in Onmyo-jutsu.

“Take a look,” I heard Caesar say.

When I opened my eyes, everything looked and felt normal. When I brought my hand up to check the results, it was then that I realized I succeeded with the spell.

A magical thread was wrapped around my pinky finger in a few loops, as an actual string would. There wasn't a knot or if there was, I couldn't see it. The red string seemed to pass through the middle of the door without a problem.

“Whoa…” Caesar tried to touch the string but it went right through his hand. “I have to admit, this is kind of cool.”

“Let's follow it,” Alfonse suggested.

“But what if it's not someone from the academy?” I told them, “Who knows, it might be someone from overseas, like Queensblade, maybe?”

“Well, we won't know unless we try searching for its end,” Caesar said.

Alfonse nodded. “Let's just look around the academy. If the string goes beyond, let's go back.”

“Ugh. Fine.”

 

When we went out of the office, there were Day Class students who were still present and walked around the corridor. While they passed through the string, they acted as if nothing was there.

“They can't see it, right?” I asked the two.

“Hmm…” Alfonse held out the book and started to read around the section where the spell was written. I didn't even notice he brought it. “It says here that those only present when the spell is cast would only be able to see the string.”

Relieved, I said, “Okay. Thanks, Alfonse.”

“Come on, let's go!” Caesar said.

The three of us walked around until we reached the courtyard. The orange glow of the sunset made it a bit difficult to see the string.

I squinted my eyes as I tried to see better when Alfonse asked out of the blue, “Hey, is the little prince your soulmate?”

The little prince?

“You mean 'baby prince’?” Caesar joked.

“Huh?” I turned to see Lucious as he walked towards our direction with his hands in his pockets. “N-No way!” The Prince of Nighttime couldn't possibly be the one… He's like a little brother to me!

As I thought in panic, Lucious reached us with a bored expression in his face. “You look suspicious. What are you guys doing?”

“Erm… This is going to sound a bit strange, Lucious, but could you – um…”

“What is it, Baroque? Spit it out.”

“Hi, I'm Alfonse. Nice to meet you,” he said with a smile on his face and reached a hand to Lucious to shake.

“I know who you are, Goldstein. What are you on about?” Lucious took his hands out of his pockets and nudged Alfonse's hand away.

“It's not him,” Alfonse said.

I breathed a sigh of relief.

“What are you talking about? Tell me what's going on!” Lucious demanded with an angry voice. Caesar gave him a brotherly pat on the back and proceeded to fill him in with the details.

“This sounds fun so count me in,” Lucious finally smiled and said.

The four of us walked through the courtyard as we chatted. The sky's color darkened as time passed which made the glow of the red string more apparent, although invisible in the eyes of Lucious.

Soon enough, we found ourselves in the deeper parts of the academy.

“Don't tell me…” Before I could finish my sentence, the red string has led us the last place we expected it to; the academy's graveyard. It still creeped me out no matter how many times I've been here.

We stopped walking and our line of sight followed the path of the string. It seemed to stop in one of the coffins.

Caesar ran the other side of the said coffin to check. “The string doesn't go through this side. It ends inside.”

I marched to the coffin. Upon closer inspection, it was etched with script I didn't recognize. I took a deep breath and set my hands out to open it.

The bright light from my palms made the script glow in response. With a rumble, the lid of the coffin opened by itself. Its inside emitted hazy fog and green light.

Caesar peeked in the coffin's inside. “Oh, it's the entrance to the Night Class.”

“Caesar, don't tell me you expected a corpse would be my soulmate?”

“O-Of course not!”

 

One by one, the four of us climbed into the coffin. In no time at all, we were underground. I tried my best to step down the staircase correctly. The red string glowed within the darkness but it wasn't enough to be a light source.

“Ouch! That was my foot, Alfonse!”

“Sorry, Lucious.”

Their voices echoed through the void. Within a few minutes, we arrived at the section of the path lit with pale blue candles that made our journey down a little bit easier.

“Well, we're here,” Lucious said once we reached the bottom of the staircase.

Alfonse tapped my shoulder. “Are you nervous?”

“No, not really,” I answered. “I just hope it's not Viggo.”

“Talking about me behind my back, losers?” a voice spoke from the entrance.

“Viggo,” Caesar greeted with a sour expression on his face, “How nice to see you.”

“Technically, you were the one behind our backs, Viggo,” I informed him.

“Whatever,” he replied and narrowed his eyes at my raised pinky finger. “Out for some tea, are you?”

Before any of us could reply, Viggo had left with a swish of his Night Class robes.

“Ugh, let's go.” Caesar was first to follow the red string's direction.

The Night Class was such a stark contrast from ours. Every time I pass by their hallway, I couldn't help but make an internal comment about its resemblance to a prison. It used to scare me at first but little by little, I think I've gotten used to it.

The red string went on for quite some time. I was beginning to think there wouldn't be an end to it when Alfonse pointed out that it was bent to a different direction. In our quest to follow the string's direction, we found ourselves in front of a familiar door.

An angry voice from inside the room was audible from where we stood. “Didn't you see?! I finished it before you? So I win!

“No, I finished eating the last one before you,” another voice said, this one a little bit calmer.

“No way! I did! You've never beaten me in a hotdog eating contest!” There was a loud noise as one of the chairs fell down to the floor.

“No, I won. Don't assume you can always win. It's me this time.” A shuffling sound, as if the chair was pulled upright.

“Whatever! Let's race with hamburgers now!” By this time, the voices seemed to be louder, nearer.

“Sure. I'll win no matter how many times we try.”

“Humph! You'll regret saying that!”

The door flew open and a gaudy orange scarf welcomed my view. When I peeked at the hand which held the knob, I was overcome with shock. My vision focused on the rings he wore and the red string around his little finger.

Zeus Brundle, the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, was my soulmate.

“Hey, what are you guys doing here?” he asked, the bicker with Hiro temporarily forgotten, surprise evident in his voice.

“We were… um…” Caesar tried to find an explanation, in shock as well.

Before he could even finish his sentence, a magic circle appeared under my feet. In panic, I took a few steps backwards and managed to hold onto the person beside me before I started to fall.

The next thing I knew, I was back to the Prefect's office with Alfonse.

What just happened?

“So…” Alfonse spoke, “Zeus, huh?”

 

That night, Caesar sent me a magic note that said not to worry since he and Lucious made up a white lie to get Zeus off our backs with the sudden appearance of the magic circle. At that moment, I couldn't be more thankful to my friends.

I needed time to gather my thoughts. The next day, I found myself avoiding their main subject of interest.

After one of my morning classes, I saw Zeus in the corridor as he craned his head around, clearly in search for someone.

“Hey, you!” His booming voice echoed through the corridor as I stealthily ran away.

It so happened that Elias had come out of an empty classroom. I recognized it as the one we used to practice magic in.

“Elias, help me!”

His amethyst eyes were wide both with shock and worry. “L-Liz? What's wrong? Are you alright?”

I heard the heavy footsteps of someone running towards our direction.

In panic, I opened the door and took refuge in the empty classroom only to leave Elias to deal with Zeus.

“Where is she?”

There was a long pause before Elias replied, “Who?”

“Don’t play dumb with me, Goldstein Number Three! Where's Liz?”

“Hey! Why am I 'Goldstein Number Three’ now?!”

“Whatever, you Loser Day Class student!”

I can only imagine the glare Elias must be giving Zeus.

“By the way,” Elias finally replied, “Klaus is looking for you.”

“What? Why is he in the academy again?!”

And that was all it took for Zeus to be distracted and leave.

 

Later that day, I was walking back to the dorm when I saw some Day Class students playing Ladilz.

Guy was about to wave at me to join them when I saw that not only the Day Class students were there but also some Night Class students. The unmistakable orange scarf caught my eyes even from afar.

Sorry, Guy.

I pretended to be in haste and walked in a quick pace to the library, the last place Zeus would think of hanging out in.

 

It was nearly nighttime when I decided that my attempts to read in the library had been futile. I walked back to the dorm and sighed. I thought about the box in my bag and what I should do with it.

It was then that a sudden pale blue light glowed on the ground. I looked downwards in confusion to see a magic circle beneath where I stood. It was a peculiar circle with some modifications.

There was only one person who made magic circles like this.

The brilliant light grew stronger until it masked my vision. I closed my eyes at the intensity of the brightness and felt myself being transported.

The next thing I knew, I was in the office of the Night Class Prefects.

In the corner of the room was Alfonse, a worried expression on his face. Beside him was Klaus, who rubbed his forehead in exasperation.

Caesar was present as well, although he seemed awkward with the turn of events. Lucious stood there, eyes wide. Hiro sat in one of the chairs, sleepy as ever.

In the middle of room, standing with his jaw slack, was Zeus.

“Zeus,” I called his name and looked at him in shock.

“W-Wait… I – I…” the pinnacle of all creations, alive or dead, stuttered. While it would have amused me on another day, the confusion took over.

It was then that Zeus, cherry red in the cheeks, ran out the door.

I looked to my other friends for an explanation. “What was that all about?”

“Sorry, Liz.” Alfonse was first to break the silence. “You see, Zeus was ranting how you've been weird since yesterday…”

“So, he used summoning magic to bring me here?” I clarified.

“Yes,” Klaus replied. “But not in the way you think.

“Caesar said something about soulmates,” Lucious told me. “And Zeus being Zeus… Well, you get the picture.”

“After King Kook's failed Strange Taffy summon,” Hiro rubbed his eyes and began to say, “That idiot wanted to show off his summoning magic and bragged how he could probably summon his… soulmate.”

As the pieces connected together, I ran to the door to follow Zeus.

There was only one place he would be right now.

I was right. I found him there in his usual table in the Night Cafe, as he stared blankly in the distance, a drink on the table untouched.

“Hey.” He turned to me with a slight shake of surprise.

When I sat across him, he didn't stop me. He kept quiet, which was so out of character for him it worried me.

I wondered how I should talk to him.

Zeus tapped his fingers twice on the table. In no time at all, a drink in front of me appeared. It was a vivid orange on top and a transparent red all the way down. A slice of orange decorated the rim of the glass.

“Thanks.” I looked away and took a sip. This drink took me back to the first time he took us here in the Night Café. It was the same one he got for me.

We spent the entire time in the Night Café in silence. When we finished our drinks, the both of us stood up and he mumbled something about walking me back to my dorm. I didn't mind.

We walked side by side in an uncomfortable silence and by the time we reached the academy's courtyard, I couldn't take it anymore.

“Zeus,” I began by calling his name, still clueless on how to approach the situation. “I'm sorry… for being weird.”

“You'd better be!” Zeus frowned, slightly back to his usual self. “Care to explain?”

So, I did. I told him about the Onmyo-jutsu and did my best to recount the events that transpired yesterday. I couldn't help but look away when I explained the part about the soulmates. After all, he did run away when he summoned… me.

When I finished my story, Zeus had his arms crossed as he reflected on what I told him.

I sighed and opened my bag. I took out the small box I kept there and cast a _Clesko_ spell to turn it back to its original size. I've got nothing to lose at this point, so might as well.

“This is for you.” I handed him the box tied with a blue ribbon.

He looked at it with wide eyes but took it, nonetheless. “What's this?”

“Open it.”

When he did, he looked even more surprised, if that was even possible.

“You mentioned that you wanted orange cake last time,” I explained, “I baked that… yesterday morning.”

“Before the Hinomoto magic?”

My cheeks burned in embarrassment. “Yes.”

He hummed in response and seemed to be pleased with my answer.

“I figured you'd get your fair share of chocolates today so I wanted to give you something different.” I internally facepalmed as I babbled but I wasn't done yet. “I didn't know if I should give it to you… I don't want you to think that I'm only doing this because I found out that you're my… soulmate.”

Even if Zeus and I had an affinity with each other, it didn't necessarily mean that we would end up together, that I knew. Still, I wanted him to know how I felt for him.

“The truth is,” I gulped nervously, “I like you, Zeus. I've liked you for a long time now.”

I looked away, terrified of what his reaction might be. After my confession, there was a chance that Zeus would feel awkward and never talk to me again.

Or would he? After all, I was only a single line in his long list of admirers.

My thoughts were interrupted by his sudden outburst.

“Y-You – ! I was supposed to confess first!”

What?

I raised my eyes to meet his and couldn't help but notice that his cheeks were as flushed as mine, if not more. It was endearing.

He set the box on the bench near us and in a sudden motion, a bouquet of red roses was thrust into my hands. Did he have this all this time? Where did he even keep this?

An elegant white paper was used to wrap the flowers and a red ribbon tied them together at the bottom. The roses themselves were not in full bloom yet, but the flowers were larger than a typical rose.

“Wow… They're so beautiful…” There was nothing else I could describe the flowers as.

“Of course! Those are from our family's garden after all!” Despite his proud retort, the tone of his voice lacked its usual arrogance, as if he was relieved of my reaction.

“R-Really?”

“Yeah. In Queensblade.”

Oh, right. Zeus was from Queensblade.

The words I uttered yesterday echoed through my mind.

_“Who knows, it might be someone from overseas, like Queensblade, maybe?”_

With the ridiculousness of the situation, I laughed harder than ever.

“Hey! What's so funny?!” Zeus demanded, no doubt confused with my antics.

I flung my arms around his neck and stood on my tiptoes. “Thank you, Zeus. I'm so happy.”

After a few moments, he finally responded. “I like you too, you know? Since the very first day.” He wrapped his arms around me in return, in the same way he returned my feelings for him.

“What? Really?”

“Yes, really.” He began to run his fingers through my hair. “So, are we dating now?”

“I don't know.” I looked into his blue eyes, never been able to admire them as closely as before. “Are we?”

Under the moonlight, Zeus and I shared our first kiss. I knew, from that moment on, the fragrance of red roses would always remind me of this moment.

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading ▼・ᴥ・▼
> 
> I am on Tumblr! — [ichigo-daifuku](https://ichigo-daifuku.tumblr.com) ♥


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